Notes and quotes from the second day of full squad workouts in West Palm Beach, FL…
FUTURE OUTFIELD ALIGNMENT PREVIEW:
Beat writers on the scene in West Palm Beach, FL on Tuesday noticed the way the Nationals lined things up with their young outfield prospects in camp (Robert Hassell III, Dylan Crews, James Wood) when they took the field together for the first day of full squad workouts of Spring Training 2024:
For what it’s worth, Nats have Hassell working in left, Crews in center, Wood in right for first round of official drills.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) February 20, 2024
The Nationals are doing fly ball practice this morning. In the second round, Robert Hassell III is in LF, Dylan Crews and Jacob Young are in CF. James Wood in RF.
— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) February 20, 2024
According to manager Davey Martinez, he asked the top outfield prospects in the Nationals’ organization to start out where they felt most comfortable.
“I told them go to where you’re comfortable,” Martinez explained.
“‘And then as we get going and stuff, we’ll start moving you guys around a little bit to see the ball off the bat differently.’”
The organization moved all three around the outfield last season too, as part of a plan to get them exposure in all three outfield spots, and as Martinez said that is by design since you never know where the opportunities will be if/when they call the next-gen outfielders up to the majors.
“I talked to them all about playing all three positions,” Martinez explained.
“You never know where our necessity is. We got a pretty good right fielder right now [Lane Thomas]. And we got a pretty good outfield right now. Victor [Robles] is coming back. But I want these guys to learn to play all three. I talked to Hassell, I talked to Crews-y today, Wood I talked to three days ago, they all should be comfortable playing all three outfield positions.”
CORBIN’S CUTTER:
Patrick Corbin finished up his 2023 campaign (his eleventh run in the majors, and the fifth season on his 6-year/$140M deal in Washington) with a 5.20, a 5.28 FIP, 57 walks (2.85 BB/9), 124 Ks (6.20 K/9), a .293/.344/.481 line against, and 33 homers allowed in 180 IP (1.65 HR/9).
“You know, the numbers don’t indicate that he did well,” manager Davey Martinez said, stressing the positives after Corbin’s final outing of the 2023 campaign, “… but he’s got more wins than a lot of other starting pitchers in the major leagues.”
“I could give him the ball every five days,” Martinez continued. “He works really hard. He works hard in-between his starts. The guy’s going to eat innings for you. I think this winter, the whole — he needs to come up with an identity for him, what he wants to do moving forward.”
Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
If he works down in the zone, the skipper stressed, he has more success.
“When he gets the ball down he’s pretty good,” Martinez said.
“We got to get him to understand that he’s got to get the ball down, and keep the ball down, use his changeup. His changeup is a good pitch. Slider was good.
“Overall, I thought, you look back and he pitched some tough games, kept us in a lot of games. So we’ll build off of that and hopefully he comes back stronger next year.”
A few days into Spring Training, Martinez told reporters there were signs Corbin did take the advice from the team to heart as he prepared for the final season of his six-year deal in D.C.
“I think something resonated with him last year about keeping the ball down,” the manager said. “He’s working both sides of the plate, but really emphasizing trying to keep the ball down. I know he added a cutter in the mix, and so far it’s been really good, so I’m really looking forward to him using it during these games down here in Spring Training and seeing where he’s at.”
The skipper announced on Wednesday he would give Corbin the ball in the Nats’ Grapefruit League opener on Saturday.
“He’s been down here throwing. He lives down here. He’s been throwing a lot. So we’ll just go with Corbin,” Martinez told reporters.
Corbin has started the regular season opener for the past two years, so is there any chance he gets the ball again on Opening Day, or will the Nationals’ skipper go with another arm?
“Way too far away for that,” Martinez said.
“We’ll see how Spring Training goes, and then towards those last two weeks we’ll line it up to where we feel like who’s going to start Opening Day,” he said. “To me, I know it is a big deal to pitchers to be able to start. All these guys have got to do their job, no matter what.
“Whether it’s day one, day two, day three, these guys have to be ready to go.”
MR. NATIONAL HIMSELF:
Ryan Zimmerman was back in West Palm Beach, FL on Wednesday in his role as a special advisor for the organization now that his playing days are over. Zimmerman was in camp, making himself available to any next-gen Nationals who want to pick his brain and talk to the now-39-year-old veteran of 16 seasons in the majors.
hi mr national sir thank you mr national sir pic.twitter.com/xqhAYowprj
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) February 21, 2024
“What he means to this organization and to the fans is incredible,” Davey Martinez said after the team’s workouts on Wednesday. “He’s a guy we want our young guys to emulate. He knew how to play the game. I talked to our players about how good a third baseman was, and obviously he got injured and then he went over to first base and became really, really good over there as well. And then there was nobody better, as far as a baserunning standpoint that would run the bases like he did, play the game like he did, drive in runs. He was just really good. So while he’s here, I told our guys, ‘Hey, pick his brain. He knows a lot about the game. Pick his brain. He’s here for the reason. I love having him here. I talked to him a lot this morning, we worked out together, and just a blessing to have.”